Conductor-pipe and method of joining edges of same



(No Model.)

W. J. PLBGKER, 5 CONDUCTOR PIPE AND METHOD 0E JOINING EDGES OE SAME.

No. 518,767. PatentedApL 274, 18941.-

. the art to which i UNITE@ STATESPATENT @throng WILLIAM .LPLEoxEa 0F PEORIA, ILLINOIS.

CONDUCTOR-MPE AND MEI-Hou oFJo-ININGEDGES oF SAME..

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 518,767, dated April 24, 1894. Application tiednember 1s, 1893. semi No. 493,936. orb modell.)

To all whom t may con/cerf.- i

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. PLEKER,"

a citizen of the United States, residing at Peoria, inthe county of Peoria and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Conductor-Pipes and in Methods of Joining the Edges of the Same; and I do hereby'declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the same. e l l This 'invention relates to improvements in conductor pipes, and in the method of join,- ing the edges of the sheet metal blank from which the pipe -is made. kHeretofore, three general ways have been followed'of. joining the opposing edges of a blank so as to form.

a tube. The first and probably the most comf- Imon is that of bendingthe edges seas to form .I a seam and then'b'y compressing and locking them tightly together. Another method which has been followed'isthatof forming laterally extending lips or tongues upon one edge of the blank which are inserted'v in slots orI apertures upon the other edge, the tongues lor lips being bent down andv back'soas to forni a lock. There is also a third method, thatis, providing oneedgevof thev blank with .longiit'apperta-ins to make and use tudnally extending lips bent at an angle to; the face of the blank which are inserted in apertures in the opposite. plate, and which' are then bent again so as toengage with the i metal adjacent to' the aperture of -the lsaid opposite plate. `Then by compression, the metal engaged bythe tongue is compressed into theaperture left by cutting out the tongue. To all of these three methods lor ways of joining the edges oftheblank there are serious'disadvantages, such 'as there be-l ing formed three 0r four thicknesses of metal at the juncture of 'the cedges, this disadvantage being peculiar tothe first two methods.v

In forming a joint by the last of the three'methods it is impossible tocompress thejtongue and the underlying metal so as to present a neatly finished joint. The tongue which is cut out from and bent up at -an angle to the face of the blank had to be formed bymaking an incision inwardly from the edge of the blank and then parallel thereto, thereby weakening `have been '.bent down. ,line :r4-a: Fig. 4. Figi' is a to become'disengaged. For it will be readily the joint and frequently permitting the edges seen that when the4 tongue is vbentdown into place',compressing the metal ofthe opposing plate, they tongue will be forced laterally on account of the thickness of the metal which is compressed, thereby cracking the tongue or lip at its base.l Thus the edge of a'practioally water tight joint.

Inlth'e drawings, Figure l showsa -section of p ipe with the edges joined by' my improved method. Fig. 2 shows a pipe blank in plan .after the tongues have'l been formed in its edges. Fig. 3 shows the vsamein perspective. .Figftshows a section:A of pipe, after it has been'bent into a tube, but before the tongues Fig. 5 is a-section on similar section on line; '3f-'y Fig. l.

appearance,and enables two or more sections of pipes to be joined together so as to present It -will be'easily'understoo/d.howvthe joinf I ing of the edges of the,v tube blank is accomplished. I first, by means of 'a proper punch.,

form'the tongues ab in the edges A', B, of the blankl O'respectively. Each tongue has con-v verging sides, so that the tongue itself issubstantially V-shaped for a purpose lto bedescribed. The tongues b b project upwardly 'from the face of the blank while the tongues a a project downwardly. AThe apertures a b which are left in the blank by cutting out the tongues a bare enlarged by means of aseparatepunch or die, or by means of the same punch when forming the. tongue, and have parallel sides vand acurved end. It willbe seen byexamination of Figs12and 4t that the tongues are almost diametrically-opposite, the apertures a extending to 'oneside of the diametric line ofthe tongues ct band the apertures b extendingl tothe opposite side. Thus when the ,blank is bent into tubular form as shown in Fig. 5, the tongue'b ente'rsthe aperture a and the tongue a at the Sametime enters the aperture b', the

bases of the tongues ct b abutting against each other. Then by means of rollers or equivalent crushing or hammering devices, the tongues a b are forced into the planes of the edges B A respectively. Tongue b engaging with the metal a2 of the edge A compresses` the metal into the aperture b,and at the same time tongue et compresses the metal b2 lof the edge B intothe aperture a. Thiswill be clearly seen by an examination of Fig. 6. When the joint has been completed, it is impossible to disunite the edges without breaking off the tongues, and this rarely ever happens, in fact practically never happens, because the strain which the joint experiencesisa lateral strainfwhichwould compel the shearing of the tongues edge-'wise before lthe 1joint woulda giveway. j

Asfhereinbefore said,I the tongues ct bhave `converging sides which maybe either straight or curved,fwhile the apertures a. b" are more or lessrectangularinshape Preferably I haveshown the apertures as having curved ends, but this issnot necessary asthe ends might be squared with equal results. Thus each tongue is less in its cross dimensions thanfitsadjacent aperture so that when theg jointhasbeen for-med and the tongues bent rasvnearas possible to their original positions,

'therewvll `be suiicient space betweenthe' A'edges of the tongue and the sides of the-raperget the tongues to register properly-with the apertures. Awould engage Ywith fthellikeedges of the apertures, and it would* require a great e'xpendi-; ture of time toget eachtongu'e` into its properi aperture. Hence, in order to .obviate this 'diiculty, I cut the tongues Vor wedge shaped; `and then enlarge the apertures, which f are:

`leftafterlbending back'the tongues.

The tongues arelforme'd in the blank, not'` directly in `theedge lbut a short distance therefrom `and itfwillbe readily understoodr `thatthisgreatly strengthens the joint and rprevents the shearing away of any of the tongues, which frequently happenswhen the `tongues areformed of themetal lyingHupon the edge of the blank.

WhatI claim ist l. The herein described method of joining the edges of a pipe blank, it consistin g in forming duplicate tongues on the opposite sides of said blank,bending the blank into tubular form, inserting the tongues into the apertures `left by cutting the opposing tongues, and then The sharpiedges of the tongues bending the said tongues upon the said blank, substantially as set forth.

2. The herein described method of joining the edges of a pipe blank, which consists in forming oppositely extending wedge shaped tongues whose bases are diametrically oppo- 'site,fbending the tongues on either side upwardly and downwardly respectively, from the face of the blank, then enlarging the wedge-shaped apertures left by the tongues,

then bending the blank into tubular form,

inserting eachtongue into its opposing aperture, and finally crushing the tongues into theplanes of the opposing edges, substantially as set forth.

3. The herein-described method of joining `the edges of` a metallici plate or plates, which consists in cut-ting `oppositely `extending tongues in said edges or plates; bending said tongues' at an angle in either di'rect-ionrespectively to the faces of the plates or'i'ed'ges,

\ inserting eachtongue in the apertureformed inthe edge or blank bycutting the" opposing tongue, `and then bending l the tongues into s planes parallel with the* faces of ther' edges 'or plates,substautially asset forth.

4. The herein-described method: ofjoining the yedges of a `pipe `blank,it consisting in forming oppositely extendinggton'gues whose bases are substantially diametrically'opposite, bendinglthe tongue on oneedge'upward from the 'face of the blank, *bending the tongue -f rom the opposite Iffed'ge `downward from` the faceof theblank,\bending the' blank into tubular form: andfinserting-eachi tongue intoi the aperture i formed-l byr nuttingitlteJ opposingftonguef and1 thenfbending theftongues *down into the. planey of tlie "opposifngredges, n substantially asand forwthepurposes set forth.

5. "As a `newufarticle of -inanufacture,"\the 1 i hereindescribed 1 pipe# blank: provided atone A"edge with a *series of @upwardly 'extending tonguesyandlat the oppositefedgea series of downwardly qextending `tonguesgsaitl "'series of tongues extending in opposite directions and having their bases diametri'callyiopposite'each` other, substantiallyas fsetfoi-ISh.

6. "As fa n ew i article of j 1nanutacture,"the herein described; pipe blankprovidedon one longitudinal edge with fa series of wedge shaped tongues, `and i ou *the i oppositef'edge with a similarseriesof wedgeshaped tongues,

whose bases are diametrically opposite those Vof the rst `said seri-es, the 'apertures `at *the bases of tlietonguesof` onelof `said-series,extending in an oppositedirection `from those at thebases of thetonguesofthe other said series, substantially as `and for the purposes `set forth.

In testimonywhereof I affix'my signature in presence of two witnesses. WILLIAM J. PLEOKER Witnesses:

W. MQLINDsAY, t J. K. TIMBERMAN.

ICC 

